For no particular reason I found myself listening to 'End of the Line' by the Travelling Wilburys last night and it got me to thinking what a genuinely super supergroup they were - George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and some bloke on drums* - but are there any others which can match them?

Crosby Stills Nash and Young spring to mind, but not up there with the Wilburys IMHO.

I'm listening to a band called Filthy Friends at the mo - a supergroup but not with very well known members (apart from Peter Buck).

It hasn't been formed yet but I reckon the surviving members of The Who and The Beatles should combine to form a supergroup.

The Who are missing a drummer and a bassist - The Beatles now only have remaining a drummer and a bassist - what are they waiting for? And none of them are getting any younger so they need to crack on if they are going to do it (which sadly I suspect they have no intention of doing). They could be called The Whootles.

I'm not really in to country music but some songs from The Highwaymen are amazing. There's also ELP and Cream - and don't forget those who came together for things like Perfect Day and Band Aid....do they count?!

Have to agree with The Traveling Wilburys as the best supergroup.A nice link to my favourite performer Warren Zevon, was that he was in a group with Peter Buck plus Mike Mills and Bill Berry, also from REM called the Hindu Love Gods before Michael Stipe arrived. Their version of Raspberry Beret is my favourite cover version of the song. Second link is Jim Keltner, the Wilburys drummer also played on Warren last album when he was diagnosed with terminal mesothelioma. Warren demanded they played Knocking On Heaven's Door for the album. As he said whether he had any regrets, Warren told Letterman "I lived like Jim Morrison and got another 30 years!" He also said his phobia of doctors "didn't really work out!" and singing about death for 20-odd years it came as no big shock to him

You'd go a long way to beat the Travelling Wilburys. I'd read about Tom Jones having an impressive backing group for some recording sessions in the sixties. His keyboard player was some bloke called Reg. Who's now some bloke called Elton John.

To have been a 'supergroup', let alone the 'best ever', the groups would have had to be widely known to the general public.That would rule out a the vast majority of those which some of you have suggested.Heck, going by some of your suggestions I might as well throw in 'Jerry Bryant and the Starboard Mess', 'The King's Noyse' and 'The Blims'.

BC - by your own reasoned logic of a few posts above as to what qualifies as a supergroup I'm struggling to see how Led Zep could be considered? Sure they all came from different bands with varying degrees of success before getting together but I bet the general public would have struggled with knowing who Jimmy Page was let alone the rest of them before 1969.

How about the supergroup (in quantity and quality) that backed Joe Cocker on the infamous Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour?

Or how about the E Street band in it's more recent incarnations with Max Weinberg and Little Stevie back in the fold and Nils Lofgren signing on?

There have been some pretty impressive soul get-togethers over the years as well, Motown used to regularly put their acts together such as the Temptations and the Supremes on the road and on albums and Otis Redding / Sam & Dave backed by Booker T & the MG's were pretty powerful combinations.

The same could be said of most musicians, though.Page - considered to be one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time, frequently coming in the top 5 'Greatest guitarists' listsPlant - considered to be one of the greatest and most influential vocalists of all time, frequently coming in the top 5 'Greatest vocalists' listsBonham - considered to be one of the greatest and most influential rock drummers of all time, frequently coming in the top 5 'Greatest drummers' listsJPJ - whilst not quite up there with the rest of Led Zep, he's one of the most under-rated bass guitarists ( and keyboard player ) who's influenced a number of other renown rock guitarists.Led Zep also greatly influenced a number of other bands/groups across a wide scope of musical genres.

Another vote for the Wilburys. Always liked them, best song was always a bone of contention between my dad and myself. He loved Tweeter and the monkeyman and I loved Handle me with care, still one of the best albums in my collection though.

There was a rock supergroup that did a Christmas single called the Greedy bastards. Phil lynott from Thin Lizzy and the sex pistols paul cook and steve jones.